


The Secret Affair

by armoiise



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:06:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23280676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/armoiise/pseuds/armoiise
Summary: In which Atem is the cheater and Mana is the thief.
Relationships: Atem/Mana (Yu-Gi-Oh)
Kudos: 1





	The Secret Affair

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this after seeing a Revolutionshipping fanfiction. I did it out of anger because I really dislike Anzu, but I did NOT bash her, so you can still read this if you like her.
> 
> I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

"Excuse me," she mumbled and hesitantly stood up. She could feel her head spinning, as she made her way to the ladies room.

Had she been in her right mind, she would have complimented the fancy bathroom. As expected of one of the most luxurious restaurants in Domino City. Courtesy of Seto Kaiba.

Mana rested her hands on the counter and stared at her face.  _ Ugly slut. You worthless backstabbing piece of trash. _ She hated herself. Not because of the way she looked though.

No, wait. Because of the way she looked, that's right. She hated her shiny emerald orbs, her silky chestnut hair, her smooth tan skin that held no blemish or acne scars, her rosy cheeks and soft lips. And her curves, and long legs too. How dare she have the physique of a model?

And she also hated the way she talked and acted. She hated her sense of humor and how compassionate she could get. She was disgusted by the fact that she was a cat person and loved her cats dearly. How she was clumsy but managed to look cute while being the klutz she is. How her laughter was contagious. How she was talented in lots of things, without even knowing about it. The way she was perfect at everything made Mana want to strangle herself.

Everything that made her Mana, everything that made him fall in love with her, she hated it.

After a long sigh, she composed herself. If she were to return to the table with narrow eyes and a deep frown on her face, her friends would worry about her.

The friends she didn't deserve.

But this break was needed. A break from his amethyst gaze was much needed. A break from his presence was needed.

The thought of just leaving often came to her. Leave this group of people she was bound to break apart, and let them live in peace. This was supposed to be a fun night, celebrating the beautiful person that was Anzu, and her birthday. Mana would love to step back and give some rest to the girl. But Anzu was a sweetheart and would want Mana by her side as she cut her cake. So she sucked in a breath, forced a smile and left the bathroom.

The second she stepped out of the restroom, he was there.

Mana silently cursed herself and turned to return to their table, ignoring him as he followed behind.

"Mana."

Not looking back, Mana kept walking.

"Mana just-" He got a hold of her hand, which she quickly ripped it from his grip, and turned around to face him.

"Don't touch me." she hissed, pretending as if she hadn't seen the hurt in his eyes. "Don't talk to me."

It was a shame he was quick on his feet and was able to jump in front of her to block her path.

"Just listen to what I have to say. I will let you go once you hear me out, I promise. Please Mana. I need to talk to you." he begged, trying to make eye contact but Mana resisted. If those gems were to meet hers she wouldn't be able to look elsewhere.

She folded her arms in front of her chest and looked away, waiting for him to talk. It took a minute for him to understand that, as she wasn't looking at him. "Not here."

Until she could register what was going on, he grabbed her hand and started to drag her to the terrace where they could talk without being disturbed. There, Mana once again backed away, turning her back to him.

She could feel him, getting closer, and stopping just before their bodies could press up against each other.

"You've been avoiding me." he said. His breath tickled Mana's shoulder, she took a step forward.

"I was."

He took a step as well. "I missed you." His hands found her biceps.

"Atem," whispered Mana and pried his hands away, turning to finally meet his eyes. "You said you needed to talk to me, here I am. Make it quick before they search for us."

"Don't..." He sounded tired. "Don't be like that. Mana, I've been aching to hear your voice. It took everything to not drop everything and come see you."

"If it's any consolation, it would have been a waste of your time. My door was not open to you." Mana said and peered at him under her lashes.

"I'll always find a way if it means I'll get to you in the end." Atem managed a small smile to show his words were true, his feelings were true. "I wanted to talk about last Sunday."

Mana's muscles tensed. "I don't know what you're talking about." As the steamy moments slowly came back to her, she tried to refrain from blushing.

Atem bit back a chuckle. He didn't need Mana to get even angrier at him. "Okay, I know we decided to pretend as if nothing happened, but let me explain myself. You know we have to talk about it at some point."

"No, actually. I've been planning to forget it forever. You should do the same." Relaxing, Mana put her hands at her hips.

The young man moved to hold her hands and gently pulled her close. "I can't. I don't want to." He carefully wounded his arms around her. She was not hugging back, but neither trying to push him away. "You need to know; that I'm not a guy who would just 'fool around' with a girl. There's a reason it's called 'lovemaking' you know. I wouldn't touch a woman I don't feel strong emotions for."

A pity laugh came from Mana, that was muffled by his shoulder. "Yet your girlfriend is a virgin."

"I... She wasn't feeling comfortable, so I didn't elaborate."

"Don't lie to me." Mana moved her head to look at him. "Anzu said you rejected her."

"There's something called privacy." he muttered as he rolled his eyes in an annoyed manner. "That was weeks ago. Around the times I realized..."

The same warm feeling radiated from his chest, his whole body numb because of their proximity. The last time they were this close had resulted in something wrong. He shook his head. Now was not the time.

To be safe, he reluctantly released her and held her hands. "I still care about her. It feels wrong to have her when I don't return her feelings anymore."

"Then... why don't you break up with her? I mean, not because I'm dying for you guys to split up or anything..." she added. "You're just filling her up with false hope."

"I'm going to. Until last week I wasn't sure, and this whole week she was too busy planning her birthday, I just... couldn't get myself to talk to her."

A spite of jealousy grew in Mana.

As much as she would like to leave without a trace, give Anzu some rest, ease Atem from his stress, fix what she had done to Joey, and console Kisara; she also wanted to stick to Atem, not caring about anyone or what they might think. Yes, Atem was a cheater, and Mana was at fault for ever stepping into their lives but... even she deserved some happiness, right?

No, she was a horrible person. She deserved to fall into a ditch and die alone.

"Atem?" she asked, her vision getting blurry. She blinked back tears that were threatening to fall. "Don't leave Anzu for me."

"What?" Atem noticed her pursed lips and the way she was looking up. "Mana, what's wrong?" He cupped her cheeks.

A single tear escaped and trailed down her cheek, and Atem quickly wiped it with his thumb. "I'm a bad person, Atem. I did all these terrible things to all of you."

"That's not true, you're one of the nicest people I've ever met." he consoled her, his one arm went across her shoulders, his hand on her hair. "What makes you think that?"

"No." She pulled back. She didn't deem herself worthy for the comfort of his arms but still held onto his hand. "It all started when I met Anzu. I was so helpless she couldn't leave me alone. She shared her house with me. Her food, her clothes, her money... She helped me with everything until I could stand on my own feet. Whatever I have now, I owe it to her.

"But I wished she hadn't introduced me to you guys. I ruined everybody's lives. I was too clingy and careless whenever I hung out with Joey and now Mai doesn't talk to him. He says it's fine and not my fault but I know he's stressed over it. He's such a nice person and he won't blame me for anything but here I am, ruining his love life.

"And what about Kisara? Anzu had her hands full with me and had to put Kisara in second place. I stole that poor girl's best friend. And she was still nice to me. She still smiles and spends time with me, I don't know why. I don't deserve them, I really don't." She hid her drenched face in her hands.

Mana was crying freely at this point, and Atem didn't know what to do. This was the first time he had ever seen this cheerful, bubbly girl cry and the things she was saying shocked him. He never knew Mana felt this way. Assuming no one did either.

"But the worst of all is what I did to Anzu, and you. I really wish we had never met Atem."

"You don't mean that," said Atem, as if he was begging her to take it back. 

"But I do. A voice in my head told me to stay away from you as much as possible when we met. Because I..." Mana stopped and avoided the confession at the last minute, and continued. "I knew you would do me no good. I saw that... flicker in your eyes and that just proved me right. You just... did something to me. You always do. And you don't even try to hide it! You invite me to places when Anzu clearly wants you guys to have some time alone, you're either standing or sitting next to me, when there's a distance between us your eyes are always on me. It's all so suspicious.

"And... Oh! You wanted to talk about last Sunday? I came to your door to talk things out because I was fed up with you. I was going to threaten you with telling Anzu. I wasn't expecting a love confession, especially from my friend's boyfriend, for god's sake! How do you even... talk like that..."

"Love like that..." Atem whispered, pulling back a strand of her hair that had fallen on her face, stuck to her damp cheek.

"It's your fault too. You made me fall for you. What were you even expecting me to do after that confession?" Her voice went low, and she met his eyes. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I was happy that night. Genuinely happy." He smiled at her confused face. "I've never felt like this Mana. I've never said things like that to anyone and I was really anxious. But when you kissed me I was feeling relief, joy, and love at the same time and it was the best I've ever felt. That night was the best I've ever had."

"I'm sorry for leaving without a word. I was-"

"It's okay, I could imagine how you felt. But my biggest worry was that you would see it as a fluke. It wasn't. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for you but I don't see it as a mistake."

"A mistake?" Mana was taken aback. "I'm just worried about Anzu. How I stabbed her behind her back. She didn't deserve any of this."

"Mana... Do you really wish that we hadn't met at all?" Atem's arms snaked around her waist, trying to get rid of the distance between them before Mana stepped away again.

"Yes. That would be the best for everyone, you can't deny that."

Atem smiled, though hurt. "I always knew there was a reason I met Anzu. I couldn't name it, but I know there was something that made me stay with her. And I believed it to be true love as if we were soulmates." He held and raised her chin up. "Until she introduced me to you. I knew it then, why God gave me the patience to endure her. Because when you think about it, we're not actually perfect for each other."

"Strange, Anzu seems to think the opposite."

"Anzu is... a nice girl. She is pretty and smart. She values her friends more than anything, and she'd been always kind to me, but she also has traits that I don't like. For example; she doesn't know what privacy is, I had Kisara talk to me about if everything is okay between me and Anzu because apparently they talk about us all the time. So often that even Kisara figured it out. And I heard things from her that even I didn't know about myself. That's how bad it is.

"And sometimes she's... kind of a nag. I mean, she just..." Atem sighed a long one. "She just won't shut up about the most trivial things, I can't stress that enough."

"She's talkative, that doesn't mean she's a nag." Mana defended her friend.

"We don't have too much in common. She's a dog person. She has dreams of becoming a dancer. And... we don't find the same things funny."

At his words, Mana snorted, breaking the tension that was around them. "Remember that one time when Joey wanted me to talk Arabic?"

A big grin grew on Atem's face as he remembered how the things Mana had said made him want to laugh his heart out, and how shocked she was when she realized he could understand her perfectly. Mana was indeed not talking about herself as Joey requested, but rather saying different things. It had been a surprise to her that Atem knew Arabic as well. "See, you get me. Compared to her you're made for me."

Mana chuckled, finally feeling comfortable enough to stand one step closer to him. "Okay, we do have some things in common maybe."

"Some things? Mana, we're from the same country, talk the same language, find the same things amusing, our taste in food is really close, prefer the same type of music and movies... Even Anzu had said I had found my best friend, after that day when we all went to brunch. Even she saw the connection between us."

If Mana was going to smile, it faltered once she heard Anzu's name.

"Then let's leave it at that," she said, her throat hurting as if it was on fire. "Don't break up with Anzu."

"Don't blame yourself Mana. And, think; would you really want Anzu to be with a guy who doesn't love her like that anymore?" His hands cupped her cheeks again, bringing her face closer.

"Atem-" Mana held his wrists with a weak attempt to release her own head but found it rather difficult to do when what she wanted from him was to clash his lips to hers.

"What we have is more than friendship." He rested his forehead on hers. "Don't deny yourself the obvious truth."

"Hm..." was all she could manage to say before her voice died in her throat. Their faces were too close and it was getting harder to resist the urge to just... step on her tiptoes... and... press their lips together.

"You don't hate me, do you? You don't hate me because you're the only one my heart wants, right?"

"I don't hate you..." Mana mumbled before giving in and reaching for him. "I might even..."

"You might even..." Atem urged Mana to continue as he leaned in.

The sight of his parted lips encouraged Mana and with an instant, all the negative thoughts left her mind. How she hated herself, how she stole Anzu's boyfriend, how she left Kisara alone, how she messed with Joey and Mai's relationship... Gone then and there.

Their lips met again after a long week of guilt and longing. While Atem relaxed, bliss washing over him; Mana was in her thoughts.

Atem did that. His kiss made her forget about her insecurities and how she felt hopeless. With every movement of his lips, the depressing thoughts were replaced with pure affection.

His touch relieved her body from stress, his hands caressing her hair and back in a soothing manner.

Mana didn't want it to stop. She wanted to feel like this all the time. In his arms, surrounded by his warmth. The selfish little devil in her wanted to keep him all to herself, never letting go. Latch onto him and hypnotize him with her kisses.

She gasped for air, clinging to him to steady her footing. "I-" she started, maybe about to finally confess what Atem had been waiting for to hear.

The sound of Atem's phone ringing cut in, and he growled, harshly grabbing the phone from his blazer's pocket.

"We were gone for a long time now," Mana said after seeing it was Anzu calling. "You go back."

After declining the call Atem shoved the phone back in its place. "We're not done yet. You were saying something?"

Mana pressed her lips and looked down, before looking up again and shaking her head. "It can wait. But we shouldn't miss it when Anzu cuts her cake."

She grabbed his hand and started to walk towards the door, with him groaning as he followed behind.

"Mana..." Atem stopped abruptly, causing the girl to also stop in her tracks.

She looked at him with a surprising smile on her face. "Look, it's alright. I'm not as mad as I was earlier. We can talk later." His face showed he was not convinced, so this time Mana put her hands on his cheeks and gently pecked him. "I promise I won't ignore you."

"Hopefully so," he muttered.

They put a safe distance between them before leaving the terrace, however, what's done was done, and they have been caught to the naughty eyes of the innocent one.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm actually thinking of doing a multi-chapter version of this because I love the idea of Atem dumping Anzu -or literally anyone- to be with Mana.
> 
> But seriously, I made up a strong backstory for this one-shot and I feel like there's more to this, so that could happen once I'm finished with my current one.


End file.
